Recreational vehicles such as motor homes, travel trailers and the like conventionally have a dual internal electrical system, one being a direct-current low-voltage system coupled to the vehicle battery for controlling minimal appliances such as a small number of lights, and the other being a standard high-voltage alternating current system (such as a conventional 110volt system) used for energizing not only lights but also appliances such as a refrigerator, stove and the like. This conventional 110 volt alternating current system can be electrified only when the recreational vehicle is stationarily parked, and for this purpose the vehicle has an elongate power cord which is normally stored within an interior storage compartment accessible through an operable door formed in one side of the vehicle. The power cord has one end thereof anchored to a control box which is part of the electrical system. The elongate cord can be manually pulled outwardly from the vehicle and is provided with a plug at the free end so as to permit connection to a stationary power post such as provided in a campground or the like. With this known arrangement, it is necessary for the operator to manually pull the power cord from the vehicle and plug it into the power post. When it is desired to disconnect and move the vehicle, then the power cord is manually unplugged and the operator then manually feeds the cord back into the vehicle storage compartment. This latter operation is generally undesirable since often times the cord is both wet and dirty due to its having been disposed on the ground overnight, and handling of the cord is thus a dirty and undesirable task. Further, such cord is relatively heavy, particularly a 50 amp cord.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a device which mounts on the vehicle and can be driven from the low voltage direct current system of the vehicle, with the device cooperating with the power cord to permit the power cord to be automatically retracted into the vehicle storage compartment after the power cord has been disconnected from the external power post. This device hence permits avoidance of any significant manual handling of the cord during retraction of the cord into the vehicle, and permits the retraction to take place in a very simple and timesaving manner.
In the power cord retractor device of the present invention, the recreational vehicle is provided with a conventional operable access door, behind which is stored the cord. The door has a small opening for accommodating the cord when the cord extends exteriorly of the vehicle and the door is closed. Positioned behind the door, within the front of a cord storage area, is a pair of vertically spaced driving rollers having exterior surfaces which permit a secure driving engagement with substantially diametrically opposite sides of the cord. The cord passes between the rollers, and the rollers are preferably spring urged toward one another to effect secure driving engagement with cord therebetween. The rollers are driven synchr in opposite directions from a motor, the latter being electrified from the lcw voltage direct current system of the vehicle, such as from a 12-volt battery. An operator-controlled switch controls energization of the motor when retraction of the cord is desired. Such switch may be provided on the vehicle directly inside the door or, in an .alternate embodiment, may be provided on the remote or free end of the power cord (such as at the plug end of the cord) so as to be accessible to the operator at the time the power cord is unplugged from the external power post. If the motor is used to drive the rollers solely for cord retraction, then an operator-actuated release element is provided to effect increased separation between the rollers to facilitate the outward pulling of the cord by the operator when the cord is being hooked up to an external power post.
Other objects and purposes of the present invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent to persons familiar with recreational vehicles and external power cords provided thereon, upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.